Remembering the Anderson Era

Alan Shore · Jan 12, 2004

I know 2003 was the painful final chapter and alot of us really dislike the man, but under his reign we did see alot of good things that cannot be questioned:

1. Buying Brett Kimmorley
2. Giving the team Nuts!!!
3. Franze, Rieck, Vagana & co
4. Giving the likes of Hilder, Newton, Galloway and so on a go
5. 64 TO 14!
I was astounded when I was watching Sportswatch and saw that we were up 42-0 at halftime. Then there was yet another Joey Johns tantrum (although he couldn't elbow our star 5/8th then, could he? ;-) ) and Mellor's awesome try.
6. The 30-24 comeback against the Naughts in 2003.

Booyah · Jan 12, 2004

I think the best thing Opes did for this club was get rid of all the old pensioners just cruising down in First division.

i.e The Pierce kids.

We actually have youngsters in first division now.

King of the Hill · Jan 12, 2004

I think the best thing Opes did for this club was get rid of all the old pensioners just cruising down in First division.

i.e The Pierce kids.

We actually have youngsters in first division now.

Fully agree there. Absolutely.
He also served it up regularly to that idiot Phil Gould.
But I think he did more harm than good and I'm not crying now that he's gone.

fizman · Jan 12, 2004

Friends, I will make my judgement at the end of this season. Most fellow supporters appear to be satisfied with a top 8 spot, not this little duck!!

I expect top 4 and anything less is a failure in the "regular" season for me and at least a GF appearance. I have looked across most of the squads for 2004 and we are right up there in terms of player talent and depth.

There is not a shadow of a doubt that the way Anderson handled situations was wrong and poorly handled no argument. But there was a sense of requiring a cleanout of the "older heads". How long had the majority of the squad been together and fallen short of the big prize?? too many for mine.

That is certainly not said to discredit the wonderful performances and entrertainment that we have been fortunate enough to follow over the last 7 or so years. But, at the end of the day we didn't win the comp and we weren't the Champions.

I have reservations about Rapers ability to do the job. In fact my biggest fear is returning to the "Happy Days" where a strong performance was seen as good enough for us, or making the second or third week of the semis was a "great" season.To me, thats what Anderson was trying to break and get rid of. I feel that Raper has too many attachments to the Board and quite frankly I think he might be a "Yes Man". Only time will tell, and I hope I am proven wrong.

Where I do give great Praise to Raper is that out of the 15 Clubs in the NRL if he had the choice to win a Premiership with any Club, I know which club that would be........He's Here!

RICHO · Jan 12, 2004

Bringing back the past again are we boys?!?
:roll:
Haha

Yes, there was good, there was very good. But there was the bad, the very bad, and the absolutely disgraceful.

The only way is up (would have been with Ando, and will be without him).

RICHO · Jan 12, 2004

fizman said:
I expect top 4 and anything less is a failure in the "regular" season for me and at least a GF appearance. I have looked across most of the squads for 2004 and we are right up there in terms of player talent and depth.

....

In fact my biggest fear is returning to the "Happy Days" where a strong performance was seen as good enough for us, or making the second or third week of the semis was a "great" season.

Mate, after last year, I'd settle for a 2nd or 3rd week of the finals!!!! Anything more this year would be a very welcome bonus!!!! A VERY WELCOME BONUS!!!!!!!!

shadowboxer · Jan 13, 2004

what about the win at brookvale in 2002. We were down 0-18 at half time, then went on to beat them 42-18 (i think) i was there and it was tops.

The Popper · Jan 13, 2004

Yesterday's history.
Me? I'm looking for a premiership.

PJ · Jan 13, 2004

I think the best thing Opes did for this club was get rid of all the old pensioners just cruising down in First division.

i.e The Pierce kids.

We actually have youngsters in first division now

Now we've got them in admin

shadowboxer · Jan 13, 2004

Nah a top 8 finish will be fine. We can go into the first round of the semis, papers talking about a wild card team like cronulla can do anything, only to get smashed around the park and look forward to 2005.

King of the Hill · Jan 13, 2004

what about the win at brookvale in 2002. We were down 0-18 at half time, then went on to beat them 42-18 (i think) i was there and it was tops.

great game that was...i was at the ground and on the hill, everyone was serving it up to me
we were down 18-0 at half time and came back to win 48-24

another great game was the one against the dragons, they were up 13-0 at half time, we won 34-13 against the low life dregs

millersnose · Jan 13, 2004

the top 8 will be fine after the humiliation of last year

shadowboxer · Jan 13, 2004

I wont be making any bold predictions. I am just looking forward to seeing what some freshness and no more lame excuses.

gunnamatta bay · Jan 13, 2004

Hopefully the club can come to terms with ando. I'd just love to see all those lawyers and their cronies dissappointed about not being able to afford a new range rover.

beerboy · Jan 13, 2004

making the top 8 is no mean feat now, when we were last there it was usually 8 good teams now we have to put up with Melbourne, Panthers & Canberra. and now those usually wooden spoonish teams are winning games (cowboys, tigers)

the salary cup has done wonders

shadowboxer · Jan 13, 2004

the thing is that all teams are competitive and games arent just easy wins

Shark · Jan 13, 2004

To be fair to 'The Pierce kids', it was only one for past few seasons, and Andrew was a pretty solid player for us in all grades for a fair while. decent bloke, too.

Let's not burden him with 'the sins of the father'.

As for divvy being 'exclusively' the domain of young blokes...Why? Surely one or two senior players are needed to provide some guidance and leadership.

wittyfan · Jan 13, 2004

The highlights of the Anderson era were few and far between, but the 64-14 win over Newcastle easily stands out as the high point.

wittyfan · Jan 13, 2004

Booyah said:
I think the best thing Opes did for this club was get rid of all the old pensioners just cruising down in First division.

i.e The Pierce kids.

We actually have youngsters in first division now.

Yes, but Anderson did leave our depth wafer thin.

PJ · Jan 13, 2004

Yes, but Anderson did leave our depth wafer thin.

You can't blame Anderson completely for that.

He inherited a Reserve grade squad with an average age of 28. That is far from a healthy situation.

Remembering the Anderson Era

First Grade

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Coach

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Juniors

Juniors

First Grade

Bench

First Grade

First Grade

Coach

Post Whore

First Grade

Referee

Juniors

First Grade

Bench

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Referee

First Grade